Heavy/Getty Actor Luke Macfarlane opens up about his return to Hallmark
Nearly a year after stunning Hallmark fans with his decision to leave the network and focus on new acting gigs, Luke Macfarlane has confirmed that recent rumors about his possible return to Hallmark are, indeed, true.
After filming “A Magical Christmas Village” with Alison Sweeney in August 2022, Macfarlane told the Los Angeles Times that it was time for him to step away from the network and focus on other projects.
“They’ve been very good to me, but I think I’ve told my story for now with those folks,” Macfarlane said. “I mean, how many firefighters can I play?”
But as previously reported by Heavy, longtime Hallmark actress Ashley Williams posted an Instagram video on June 26 with Macfarlane that got fans buzzing. Hundreds commented on the post, including many pleading for information on whether the video signaled Macfarlane’s return to the network. Williams responded to one by writing, “I KNOW NOTHING.”
Now, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on July 1, 2023, the actor has confirmed that he’s filming a new Hallmark Christmas movie. The actor said he hoped to regularly juggle a rich assortment of projects since forging new paths in film and TV. Here’s what you need to know:
Luke Macfarlane Says Hallmark’s ‘Been Really Good to Me’
HallmarkAlison Sweeney and Luke Macfarlane in 2022’s “A Magical Christmas Village”
Macfarlane fit a lot into the last year, both professionally and personally. Late last year, he costarred in his first-ever feature film, Billy Eichner’s “Bros,” and landed a recurring role in the new AppleTV+ series “Platonic” with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, which premiered in May. He also landed a small role in the new “Barbie” movie but had to let that go in order to film the TV series, which he’s hoping will get renewed, he told The Hollywood Reporter.
In addition, Macfarlane became a first-time dad on June 4 with his partner, sports agent and former World Cup skier Hig Roberts. The actor announced the news via social media on June 21 by posting photos of their newborn daughter, Tess Eleanor Macfarlane.
Despite his full plate, Macfarlane told The Hollywood Reporter that he felt good about returning to Hallmark, where was called the “King of Christmas” by fans because he’d been in so many holiday movies, the outlet noted.
Confirming his return, he said, “Hallmark has been very good to me, and I have agreed to do a Christmas movie for them this year. So I’m adding to the canon.”
Though he’s been away for nearly a year, Macfarlane is well aware of the recent strides Hallmark Media has made to diversify its programming content to be, as President Wonya Lucas said in a 2022 speech, “centered around love of every kind and love for all.”
“Hallmark is absolutely making efforts to create queer content, and I applaud them for that,” Macfarlane told The Hollywood Reporter. “They’ve been often the butt of jokes about the sort of limited nature of their cast, but they’ve really changed that, and they’re really continuing to do that. I think they’re doing that not just for the press.”
As an example, Macfarlane pointed to colleague Jonathan Bennett’s 2022 movie “The Holiday Sitter,” which was Hallmark’s first movie centered on a same-sex couple.
“The Christmas movie they did last year was a big success for them, had lots of viewers,” Macfarlane said. “There’s an audience there, for sure.”
But that doesn’t mean Macfarlane’s looking only to be in movies featuring LGBTQ+ characters. He said he appreciates that viewers are good with him playing straight characters, too, whether on Hallmark or in his role on “Platonic.”
“Anybody that knows anything about me, knows I’m an openly gay guy,” he said. “The fact that that can still work in spite of what we think of the performer shows that our audience is more open-minded. I recognize I’m not a household name by any stretch of the imagination, but that it doesn’t need to be alienating that I can play a straight guy that is in a healthy relationship, that shows something about where we’ve come.”
Luke Macfarlane Says Returning to Hallmark Set Is Fun After Other Hollywood Projects
GettyActor Luke Macfarlane arrives for the premiere of Universal Pictures’s “Bros” in September 2022.
After his break from Hallmark, Macfarlane told The Hollywood Reporter that he loved juggling different types of projects, including the fast-paced film shoots for Hallmark.
“All sets are different,” he said. “I’m so grateful in my career. I’ve done everything from a period drama to a sci-fi show to these Hallmark films, and they’re all different. That’s part of the fun of being an actor is like, ‘How does this thing work?'”
He continued, “What’s been always fun about the Hallmark movies is how much leeway they give you and the pace. Talk about learning on the job. You gotta know what you’re doing when you show up because there is not a lot of time. We shoot them in 15 days, and they tend to overshoot so that they have their bases covered.”
Macfarlane is one of many actors who’ve noted how hard it actually is to film Hallmark movies, with a pace and schedule that not everyone can handle. He did not mention whether Ashley Williams is, in fact, his costar in his new Hallmark movie, but during a panel discussion last December hosted by SAG-AFTRA, she said one of the interesting aspects of Hallmark sets is the importance of making an instant connection with her costars.
She explained, “When you meet a co-star, it’s usually day one and there’s this immediate, like, ‘We have 90 minutes to get this scene, we need to convey 30 years of history and a future together. I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine. You know, hold my beer, let’s go!'”
Williams continued, “It’s like, we’re gonna dive in together because there’s no option, there’s no room, for anyone to be a diva or a jerk. There’s just literally no time, you know? So it’s kind of like, ‘Hold my hand, let’s jump,’ and suddenly it’s 15 days later and you’re crying and you’re like ‘This is amazing what we did!’ It’s cool that way.”
In addition to being back at Hallmark, Macfarlane told The Hollywood Reporter, he’s hoping for an eventual renewal of “Platonic,” though it might be difficult given the current writers’ strike, and that an action movie is still on his bucket list.
“That really is the thing I want more than ever,” he said. “I love doing action. I really do. I can’t dance, but I can learn a fight sequence really well.”
He told Vanity Fair last year that becoming a superhero would be a huge milestone, given a disheartening conversation he had back in 2011.
“I can literally remember an agent once saying to me, ‘Superman can’t be gay,'” he told the magazine, adding that he’s hopeful times and minds have changed since then.
“I knew there was never really a place for me, or I never thought there was,” he said. “I hope that there might be some places for me now.”